There was no oli in the expansion tank or any sign of water in the oil, so I gues that rules out a blown head gasket. I am going to have to make a wrench for the valve spring retainers to do the valve adjust but # 1 was definitely tight. I am very curious to see what the compression ends up with the valve adjustment. Fortunately, I have an other EGR valve that works. When I checked Fastlane for the part it was $180 . Wasn't there someone on this board making a plate & gasket set to fit where the EGR is supposed to go?

The oil cleaner was soaked with engine oil. I took it out and set it down on a little wood bench and ther was a pudle of oil under it after it sat there for an hour or two.

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Sedecrem

82 300SD 290k(needs engine swap)
79 240D 354k with new heart transplant w/220k
82 240D w/auto tranny soon to be manual 4 speed

Well if your air filter is soaked that bad then there is your source of smoke and poor performance to start with. Air will not flow through a paper air filter when that filter is drenched in motor oil. If you are getting lots of blowby in your air filter housing, then I would recommend you change to a K&N air filter. I know a lot of people on this board don't like those, but they are designed for free airflow when wet with oil. In fact you are supposed to oil them. I never thought of the EGR but that would mess things up too.

Ha! I just gave one away. Brian the moderator is the one that makes the kits.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Well I finaly did the valve adjustment. I tried to make a valve spring retainer wrench and after wasting a day and a half messing with it, I checked the local Mercedes dealer and fortunately they had one in stock. Cost me $30 out the door but it worked and mine didn't!

Any way, the compression with the valve adjustment was #1 395, #2 395, #3 60 #4 390 and #5 325. This was interesting as only the stronger cylinders came up with the valve adjustment. In any case I guess I have a burnt valve in three and maybe the start of one in #5. I am going to try to do a compressed air check in #3 and #5 if I can jerry rig a fitting. But, won't I have to pull the head in any case? Will the compressed air check tell me anything I won't find out when I pull the head?

Does anyone know where I might find a used head for a 617.95 that is relatively inexpensive. I would like to get a rebuilt head ready before I pull the one on the engine so It will be ready to put back as soon as I remove the existing one.

Tahnks again for all of the responses.

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Sedecrem

82 300SD 290k(needs engine swap)
79 240D 354k with new heart transplant w/220k
82 240D w/auto tranny soon to be manual 4 speed

The compressed air will tell you if you have a burned valve. Did you squirt some oil into the cylinder? If numbers go up after the oil is squirted in there, then you know it's more likely to be bottom end work you'll be doing. Don't know about an inexpensive head--got mine from Metric, not cheap, but it's top notch. I was talking with a guy on this forum who got a local machine shop to do his head, and he ended up redoing it with a head from Metric--yikes. I was able to find a fitting a very large specialty plumbing shop that threaded into my comp. tester fitting and then received a 1/4 npt to thread a ball valve and then a quick connect to the air compressor. Good luck.

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1998 E300D, 287k, barely broken in.

Here's are some things to think about before replacing the head. First off, the low compression on 1 cylinder and tight vavles would not cause the large amounts of black smoke and lack of power that you were complaining about. From what you describe, it could still be from an oil soaked air filter.

You may not need to replace the head. Low compression on 1 cylinder wouldn't create the black exhaust. It would create small puffs of white smoke at idle with a rought idle. If the valves on this cylinder were very tight, you may have a little carbon built up on the valve seat. If this is the case, adjust the valves and run the engine, the carbon may work it self out. The second option is the pull the head and lap the valve with a little valve lapping compound. It's a lot cheaper then a new head.

TimK

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EPA 609 & 608 HVAC Certified
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83' 300D Turbo - 300K + Miles
00' 1.9L TDI Beetle
85' 6.5L Turbo, GV-OD, GMC Suburban,
67' 2.5L Diesel NA - Land Rover Series IIA

Here's what you do if it's so cold your diesel fuel gels. Smear some on some toast and stay inside until it warms up outside.

Well I did my leak down test with my air copresser. For both #3 and #5 cylinders the air was comming up from the crank case. From what I understand that means I either have a cracked ring or a hole in the piston on #3. Compression on that cylinder did not rise substantially when I put oil in the cylinder previously. I guess at this point I will just go ahead and replace the engine. Maybe I will tear the one in the car down later to see how bad the situation is and what it might take to rebuid it. Would be nice to have a spare engine about. I have seen a few cars come available that had very nice nice bodies and interiors that were going pretty cheap because they did not run or had engine problems.

Thanks again for all of the input.

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Sedecrem

82 300SD 290k(needs engine swap)
79 240D 354k with new heart transplant w/220k
82 240D w/auto tranny soon to be manual 4 speed

My first reaction to suddenly won't go more that 45mph is that the ALDA boost reference tube blew off.
As for the smoke I had a sudden NASCAR flashback(watching, not driving) of hole in the piston or burnt valve.

I'd do a tear down. Call it morbid curiosity, but I always like to know what went wrong and why. Maybe I can avoid it next time.

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I suggest we solve high gas prices with environmentalists... unfortunately they don't burn well.
1982 300CD, 220K miles: This vacuum system will be the death of me yet! (OBK #26)
1977 F150 400 C6 2wd, 10.2 sec 1/8 mile with 2.75 gears.
1965 Mustang. Mostly stock... LOL!
2001 Ram 2500, cummins, 5spd, 202k miles.(girlfriends)

I remember the power loss getting progressively worse as I went along(took me almost an hour to get into the city with the trafic). Also, as mentioned the air cleaner was soaked and there was a lot of blowby. A cracked ring or hole in a piston would explain the blow by and would have pushed a lot of engine oil into the air cleaner creating the smoke. As the filter element became more saturated with oil(it is a K&N) it would have incresingly restricted air flow, explaining the increasing reduction in power. Having #3 not fireing and being a drag on the system would explain the violent shaking.

Yeah, I've got to tear this thing down to see what hapened, just out of curriosity. Also, right now all the existing engine is, is a boat motor(very large boat). If I find out what went wrong it may be rebuildable with a set of rings and maybe a piston(gasket, bearing etc.).

Thaks for all the input.

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Sedecrem

82 300SD 290k(needs engine swap)
79 240D 354k with new heart transplant w/220k
82 240D w/auto tranny soon to be manual 4 speed